Toilet lamp and heater



Oct. 28, 1941. R. E. G. DEWAR TOILET LAMP AND HEATER Filed March 7, 1941 INVENTOR. 5. DE WA E REG/M440 E.

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Patented Oct. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT O F FiI CE "TOILET' LA'MP AND HEATER.

Reginald GhDewar, Oakland, Calif., assig-nor to Electronic Devices Laboratory, Inc., Oakland, Calif.,,a corporation .of California.

ApplicationMar-ch 7, 1941, *Ser'ialNo. "382,244

. .4 Claims.

My invention relates "to a toilet lamp and heater and more particularly to a device which can be used to warm the human hands for the purpose of evaporating liquids therefrom.

The main object of my invention is to provide a toilet lamp and heater that can be used for drying human hands when, for example, the hands are wet during manicuring operations, to dry finger nail waxes and enamels, to dry 10- tions placed on the hands, or for any other purpose for which it is desired to supply heat to the human hands. Another object of my invention is to provide a toilet lamp which will reflect heat onto a sloping base without substantially heating the surface upon which the lamp is placed.

Other objects of my invention will be ap- Parent or will be specifically pointed out in the description forming a part of this specification, but I do not limit myself to the embodiment of the invention herein described, as various forms may be adopted within the scope of the claims.

My invention may be more fully understood by direct reference to the drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of one embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device shown in Fi 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken as indicated by the lines 3-3 in Fig. 1.

In the device shown in Fig. 1', a base is provided having a sloping top I and a level bottom 2, this base being preferably made from sheet material so that there is a space 4 between the top and bottom portions thereof. The base is preferably rectangular and oblong, and is provided on its upper side near the narrow ends thereof with spaced uprights 5 and 6, also hollow. On the top of supports 5 and 6 and joining them is positioned a semicylindrical guard member 1 opened toward the slanting surface I of the base. Within this semicylindrical guard is coaxially positioned a s'emicylindrical reflector 9 held in place by support bolts 10. The reflector 9 has preferably a lesser arc than the guard 1, so that the edges ID of the reflector are set back of, and above the edges ll of the guard. The reason for this will be given later. At the uppermost periphery, guard l is provided with a plurality of ventilation apertures I2, and over these ventilation apertures is positioned a secondary guard l4, this secondary guard being held to the first mentioned guard 1 by means of bolts l5 which also serve to fasten a handle I6 to the lamp. "These apertures cause circulation of air between guard and reflector, thus cooling both.

The supports 5 and *6 are provided adjacent the upper end thereof with lamp sockets I! and I9 extending inwardly toward each other, and these lamp sockets receive tubular lamps 20 and 2|, these lamps being either carbon filament lamps, or high heat producing tungsten lamps. Inasmuch as the main object of the lamp is to reflect heat, not light, on the slanted surface I, the lamp sockets l1 and I9 are so positioned with respect to reflector 9 that the lamps are substantially in the focus of the s'emicylindrical reflector 9.

I find it advantageous to make the reflector 9 either of aluminum, or of a material having an aluminized surface presented to the lamps so that a maximum of heat may be reflected downwardly.

The lamp sockets are connected to a power supply by means of cords 22 passing upwardly through the supports 5 and 6, the cords from each of the lamps being connected together within the hollow base and then passing through a switch 24 into an exterior cord 25 terminating in the usual two-pronged plug 26, so that the device may be plugged into a source of electrical energy, preferably at 110 volts.

The arrangement I have shown, throws a maximum of heat directly on the slanting surface I of the base, and a minimum of heat outside of this surface, so that the lamp may be energized and kept energized for a substantial period of time without burning or otherwise heating to excess the surface on which the lamp rests, such as that of a table or desk, for example.

In use the device is energized and the radiant heat from the lamps 2ll2l is thrown directly on surface I. The hands to be dried may then be placed on the slanting surface. A slant of about 8 to the horizontal has been found to give maximum comfort to the hands as they rest on the slanting surface I. The hands, which may be wet with water, as during a manicure, wet with lotion, as during a beauty treatment, or which have had liquid wax or enamel applied to the finger nails, may then be placed on the slanting surface and drying accomplished in a minimum time due to the action of the heat reflected from the lamps by reflector 9. When the hands are dry they may be removed and additional treatments performed thereon with subsequent return to a position on surface I if it is deemed desirable.

The lamp is safe. Inasmuch as the reflector 9 will absorb a relatively large amount of heat, after long use, it may get sufiiciently hot to burn the hands if touched, even though it is cooled by circulation of air. However, the edges of the reflector, being above and inside of the guard 1, are not readily touched.

The lamp of my invention therefore is primarily a gentle heating device and inasmuch as the majority of the rays reflected from the lamp fall on the upper base surface I, the lamp is not practical as a general illuminating device, although of course it could be used as such if the material to be illuminated is placed directly on basal surface I directly beneath the reflector.

I claim:

1. A lamp and heater for toilet use comprising a base having a sloping top on which human hands may be rested, a pair of spaced supports extended upwardly from said base, a semicylinguard, and having both edges thereof equally set back from and above the adjacent edges of said uard, and a tubular heat producing lamp extending from each of said supports toward each other and substantially concentrically positioned within said reflector, whereby heat therefrom is reflected substantially on said base only.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lamps have carbon filaments.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lamps have carbon filaments and wherein the reflector surface reflecting heat from said lamps to said base is of aluminum.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lamps have carbon filaments and wherein the reflector surface reflecting heat from said lamps to said base is of aluminum and wherein ventilation apertures are provided on the uppermost periphery of said guard, said apertures being covered by a secondary guard spaced from said first mentioned guard.

REGINALD E. G. DEWAR. 

